Play Nice Majak Daw in hospital after jumping from the Bolte bridge

mick500

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 17, 2012
7,211
6,054
AFL Club
Adelaide
I don’t know much about Stilnox other than this story and Grant Hacketts story. It’s amazing how it’s legal. Seems to have massive side effects.
Way behind and catching up on this story due to real life getting in the way of keeping up on forums, but that's obviously ambien. I have never had that, but it's the same drug Roseanne was on and blamed her tweets on. May not be so far fetched after all.

Is the suggestion that it was like a sleep walking incident due to the ambien or he was depressed and not himself from being on ambien?
 

mick500

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 17, 2012
7,211
6,054
AFL Club
Adelaide
I do hope that this worthy discussion in society about mental health isn’t a knee jerk reaction to this occurrence. Hope come round one this is still in the spotlight.

On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

My question is.. Is do we know for certain its a mental health issue? Or was it a case of sleep driving and not knowing what he was doing due to the ambien.

I don't believe ambien is a drug for mental health, say anxiety like diazepam (valium) or xanax or for depression like say zoloft or aropax, it's a sleep medication.

So he may not have suffered from depression at all and may have woken up when he landed and been like "wtf has happened". Plenty of reports of people doing similar things on ambien.

Joe rogan had Roseanne on his podcast talking about ambien and they both knew of multiple people who had driven while sleeping while taking it.

Thankfully majak will be around to share his experience with others in due time if he feels the need.

But I'm just saying, he wasn't on any medication for anxiety or depression, only sleeping medication

There is a possibility he had a fight with his partner, took his medication to sleep in his car and zonked out woke up with no idea where he was and sleep walked to the incident.

Who knows, he may have taken an extra 1 because he was sleeping in his car and was uncomfortable and still thinking about the argument and couldn't sleep, leaving him disorientated when he "woke up" and like I said just slept walked to the incident.

Was his car parked on the side of the road like someone would if they were sleeping there for the night, or was it just left in the middle of the street, that would be a good indicator as to what he was doing there. IF his car was parked to the side , I am more inclined to think he was planning on just sleeping in the car for the night until things blew over at home in the morning and the ambien made him sleep walk. The fact he wasnt on any antidepressants or anxiety medication THAT I KNOW OF, then I think there is a chance it was unintentional.

Reminds me of the Clinton grybas accidental sleep walking tragedy. And makes me think maybe majak was just sleeping in his car as opposed to his home because of the fight, and makes me think maybe Clinton was prescribed something similar? I have no idea about that though.

I'm not disregarding depression, just looking at how it played out and the medication he was on and the effects it has.

If it was a fully awake, concious decision he took to drive to the bridge and proceed to do what he sadly did, then yeah, I agree, I'm no doctor but some form of mental health issue is obviously going on.
 
Last edited:

John Who

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 16, 2017
8,722
7,093
AFL Club
Adelaide
My question is.. Is do we know for certain its a mental health issue? Or was it a case of sleep driving and not knowing what he was doing due to the ambien.

I don't believe ambien is a drug for mental health, say anxiety like diazepam (valium) or xanax or for depression like say zoloft or aropax, it's a sleep medication.

So he may not have suffered from depression at all and may have woken up when he landed and been like "wtf has happened". Plenty of reports of people doing similar things on ambien.

Joe rogan had Roseanne on his podcast talking about ambien and they both knew of multiple people who had driven while sleeping while taking it.

Thankfully majak will be around to share his experience with others in due time if he feels the need.

But I'm just saying, he wasn't on any medication for anxiety or depression, only sleeping medication

There is a possibility he had a fight with his partner, took his medication to sleep in his car and zonked out woke up with no idea where he was and sleep walked to the incident.

Who knows, he may have taken an extra 1 because he was sleeping in his car and was uncomfortable and still thinking about the argument and couldn't sleep, leaving him disorientated when he "woke up" and like I said just slept walked to the incident.

Was his car parked on the side of the road like someone would if they were sleeping there for the night, or was it just left in the middle of the street, that would be a good indicator as to what he was doing there. IF his car was parked to the side , I am more inclined to think he was planning on just sleeping in the car for the night until things blew over at home in the morning and the ambien made him sleep walk. The fact he wasnt on any antidepressants or anxiety medication THAT I KNOW OF, then I think there is a chance it was unintentional.

Reminds me of the Clinton grybas accidental sleep walking tragedy. And makes me think maybe majak was just sleeping in his car as opposed to his home because of the fight, and makes me think maybe Clinton was prescribed something similar? I have no idea about that though.

I'm not disregarding depression, just looking at how it played out and the medication he was on and the effects it has.

If it was a fully awake, concious decision he took to drive to the bridge and proceed to do what he sadly did, then yeah, I agree, I'm no doctor but some form of mental health issue is obviously going on.
Well..noone here can argue you're not a deep thinker!
I think from the incident and location, it is highly probable it was an act of consciousness. If you're suggesting it was a possible side-effect of medication then you're basically saying, he was sleepdriving AND sleepwalking in one continuous act!
Either way though, whatever the actual mental diagnosis, hope he's currently on the mend!
 
My question is.. Is do we know for certain its a mental health issue? Or was it a case of sleep driving and not knowing what he was doing due to the ambien.

I don't believe ambien is a drug for mental health, say anxiety like diazepam (valium) or xanax or for depression like say zoloft or aropax, it's a sleep medication.

So he may not have suffered from depression at all and may have woken up when he landed and been like "wtf has happened". Plenty of reports of people doing similar things on ambien.

Joe rogan had Roseanne on his podcast talking about ambien and they both knew of multiple people who had driven while sleeping while taking it.

Thankfully majak will be around to share his experience with others in due time if he feels the need.

But I'm just saying, he wasn't on any medication for anxiety or depression, only sleeping medication

There is a possibility he had a fight with his partner, took his medication to sleep in his car and zonked out woke up with no idea where he was and sleep walked to the incident.

Who knows, he may have taken an extra 1 because he was sleeping in his car and was uncomfortable and still thinking about the argument and couldn't sleep, leaving him disorientated when he "woke up" and like I said just slept walked to the incident.

Was his car parked on the side of the road like someone would if they were sleeping there for the night, or was it just left in the middle of the street, that would be a good indicator as to what he was doing there. IF his car was parked to the side , I am more inclined to think he was planning on just sleeping in the car for the night until things blew over at home in the morning and the ambien made him sleep walk. The fact he wasnt on any antidepressants or anxiety medication THAT I KNOW OF, then I think there is a chance it was unintentional.

Reminds me of the Clinton grybas accidental sleep walking tragedy. And makes me think maybe majak was just sleeping in his car as opposed to his home because of the fight, and makes me think maybe Clinton was prescribed something similar? I have no idea about that though.

I'm not disregarding depression, just looking at how it played out and the medication he was on and the effects it has.

If it was a fully awake, concious decision he took to drive to the bridge and proceed to do what he sadly did, then yeah, I agree, I'm no doctor but some form of mental health issue is obviously going on.


Great post. :thumbsu:

Hopefully majek will be able to share if he wants to. if not thats ok too.

i guess mental health is used a lot these days, and is in the media more and more shining a light on it. Of course there are skeptics too.
 

Ron The Bear

Up yer arse, AFL
30k Posts 10k Posts
Jul 4, 2006
35,845
36,723
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
So he may not have suffered from depression at all and may have woken up when he landed and been like "wtf has happened". Plenty of reports of people doing similar things on ambien.

It's possible given reports that he was found at the river's edge, which suggests he got there under his own steam and didn't want to die.
 

mick500

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 17, 2012
7,211
6,054
AFL Club
Adelaide
i guess mental health is used a lot these days, and is in the media more and more shining a light on it. Of course there are skeptics too.

Oh I'm not being skeptical. If he drove to the bridge and sadly jumped off intentionally then I have little to no doubt it's a mental health issue to go to those extremes.

Just pointing out that he wasnt on any anti anxiety or anti depressants we know of just the ambien which is known to cause incidents like this. Maybe not quite so drastic, but sometimes. And if he had a fight with his partner, drove to where he was going to sleep for the night and took an extra ambien to help him sleep because he was in the car and uncomfortable, and possibly still upset by the fight, then I think there may be a chance it wasn't a deliberate act.

It's possible given reports that he was found at the river's edge, which suggests he got there under his own steam and didn't want to die.

I know the bridge but not that well being from Adelaide. Would that suggest he had parked for the night to sleep somewhere?
 
The unconfirmed reports he'd taken Stillnox are just that, unconfirmed.

But it is immaterial. Majak wasn't in a great place for a while it seems. It wasn't a reaction to a drug that led him to jump off the bridge.
 
Brad Scott is a gun.

The stuff Goldy has said about Scott encouraging him to get professional help when he was in serious trouble with his mental health is really interesting. Making sure he was always able to do what he needed without it affecting his training. Says he was brilliant support.
 

SHAKESPEARE

Cancelled
10k Posts
Jun 21, 2009
26,776
33,452
AFL Club
Hawthorn
The stuff Goldy has said about Scott encouraging him to get professional help when he was in serious trouble with his mental health is really interesting. Making sure he was always able to do what he needed without it affecting his training. Says he was brilliant support.
Met him when I was a kid after Hawks games. Always had heaps of time for us.
 
Yep, but I didn't realise that meant having to insert yourself into the daily political/media cycle.

That is about doing clinics for kids etc, not being a political pundit.

In the AFL, *everything* is about the media cycle (and often there is crossover into politics).
 
In the AFL, *everything* is about the media cycle (and often there is crossover into politics).

I know, but does it need to be? I think about the focus on Dustin Martin's dad and his visa travails too. Really, is his run in with immigration really News?
 
I know, but does it need to be? I think about the focus on Dustin Martin's dad and his visa travails too. Really, is his run in with immigration really News?

More media -> more attention -> more money.

I agree it's unfortunate, but it's pretty much a mutual pact by those involved. The individuals mightn't want it, but their representatives (AFL, AFLPA...) certainly do.
 
It's the easy story.

It's something that obviously happened. Plenty of better football stories aren't so obvious and would take putting your career at risk to report on.

There are so many AFL accredited media people that a club can refuse to do business with a journalist and they are done in footy. They become nobodies who report rumours that never amount to anything.

Meanwhile the journalist who reports what the clubs like and the stories that can't be avoided get to hold a microphone in the change rooms and will have their calls answered.

The AFL is a close knit group and they look after their own.
 
It's the easy story.

It's something that obviously happened. Plenty of better football stories aren't so obvious and would take putting your career at risk to report on.

There are so many AFL accredited media people that a club can refuse to do business with a journalist and they are done in footy. They become nobodies who report rumours that never amount to anything.

Meanwhile the journalist who reports what the clubs like and the stories that can't be avoided get to hold a microphone in the change rooms and will have their calls answered.

The AFL is a close knit group and they look after their own.

That and there are just so many people working in the AFL media, they need to report on the minutia in order to find something to report on.
 

Masher

Cancelled
Sep 8, 2018
779
719
AFL Club
St Kilda
AFL should let young players just play footy and be a normal person.
Why put extra pressure on Majak to be a spokesman for the Sudanese community and do all these PR exercises. Does he really want to do it?

This applies to all players of any background
 

Witch1

Team Captain
Sep 4, 2016
385
544
MCG
AFL Club
Fremantle
AFL should let young players just play footy and be a normal person.
Why put extra pressure on Majak to bye a spokesman for the Sudanese community and do all these PR exercises. Does he really want to do it?

This applies to all players of any background
Thing is, if you look different - in any way - you're always going to get special attention. I bet Sandilands from Freo yearns to be treated like a 'normal person' instead of being gawked at and dealing with the constant inane commentary and lame jokes about his height. He has no option but to endure it, i.e laugh it off, because it's totally ok to gasp in an exaggerated way and tell someone how really, really TALL they are.
In case they don't already know.
 

mick500

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 17, 2012
7,211
6,054
AFL Club
Adelaide
Thing is, if you look different - in any way - you're always going to get special attention. I bet Sandilands from Freo yearns to be treated like a 'normal person' instead of being gawked at and dealing with the constant inane commentary and lame jokes about his height. He has no option but to endure it, i.e laugh it off, because it's totally ok to gasp in an exaggerated way and tell someone how really, really TALL they are.
In case they don't already know.

Funny you mention, that, I had a mate that was 7 foot tall. Every weekend we went out drinking someone would make a "joke" about his height. He hated it. He use to pretend to laugh, then he started saying "haven't heard that one before". By the end he use to tell them to piss off. There's something in certain people that make them feel the need to comment and bring to your attention things they feel are strange or different. It's weird.

I have a smaller experience of it. I use to play club tennis, beat everyone. Coached for awhile. Anyway, I use to wear tracksuit pants and sometimes a hoodie or whatever I felt like wearing. Every week someone would come up and say before even playing "Why are you wearing long pants". Like it was any of their business?. That use to piss me off by the end. Then I would smash them on the court and go have a smoke with a few mates lol.
 

Catters 070911

Club Legend
Oct 13, 2017
2,270
2,101
AFL Club
Geelong
One misconception that people need to get over is that rich, famous people have nothing to complain about or shouldn't be depressed, because they have more than most.

Depression doesn't work that way. It is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which some people are vulnerable to. Anything can trigger it, and someone with every reason to be happy can still suffer deep depression and not know why they feel the way they do.

Depression doesn't discriminate, and can affect rich and poor alike.
 
Apr 2, 2013
10,969
16,326
AFL Club
Collingwood
Funny you mention, that, I had a mate that was 7 foot tall. Every weekend we went out drinking someone would make a "joke" about his height. He hated it. He use to pretend to laugh, then he started saying "haven't heard that one before". By the end he use to tell them to piss off. There's something in certain people that make them feel the need to comment and bring to your attention things they feel are strange or different. It's weird.
.

Never graduated from primary School.
 
Apr 2, 2013
10,969
16,326
AFL Club
Collingwood
The unconfirmed reports he'd taken Stillnox are just that, unconfirmed.

That is lethal stuff. Does nothing and is nothing but trouble. Yet proscribed by your local GP.

Meanwhile some fringe player has a joint, snort or a funny pill or 2 at a festival and is demonised. Go figure.

It really is a minefield for young people. Hope Majak is OK has a step back and assesses what he wants to really do in life and is true to himself. Best of luck.
 
Back